Wonder Cats Manga Review (Spoiler‑Free)

Synopsis

Wonder Cats is a collection of short manga, with some 4-panel and some spanning several pages. It’s about humans, cats, dogs, and other animals framed in a series of gags. Sometimes the animals talk, sometimes they’re not what they appear to be, and sometimes they’re actually something unexpected.

The Good

Wonder Cats can definitely be summed up in two words: “simple” and “cute.”  The simplistic linework, minimal backgrounds, and soothing color choices help to impart this vibe. The backgrounds are sparse, but the art is expressive. Some jokes will definitely make you smile; sometimes because you know about cat behavior, sometimes because the joke is so absurd but lands the mark anyway, and sometimes because you just want to sit back and enjoy the ride.

The 4-panel and short manga stories are easy to digest, with very little text. Often the jokes are visual gags and don’t require too much reading, leaving you with more time to enjoy the soothing art as you speed through the pages. The sound effects lettering is very fun, especially for the manga pages with little to no spoken words.

I particularly liked the gags where the joke is told entirely through the art and sound effects. One specific one that comes to mind features a pair of cats in a cowboy Western story. The two cats face off with weapons, but as they are poised to fight, they both become distracted by a tumbleweed, and the deadly duel is averted. This vignette perfectly captures the whimsy that holds Wonder Cats together as a compilation.

Somewhere in Between

As expected from a book titled Wonder Cats, cat-related gags make up the most of the manga, though there are other animals in the mix. Readers who skip reading the synopsis would  likely not expect this menagerie. Some of the stories are about dogs, tigers, shrimps, and axolotls, to name a few. I find that the book is definitely a collection of different manga that the creator made at different times, and doesn’t have a cohesive theme.

This is definitely a more chill read for when you’re looking for some cat jokes and nothing else, but I don’t feel like a lot of them have much re-readability if you’re already familiar with the punchlines. The title Wonder Cats feels like it was picked just to tie it with the artist’s other licensed series with the same publisher, Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan. Even if the cover is a collection of animals and not just cats, this book is not really all about cats. I feel like the title could have stated it more clearly that this is a collection of stories about various animals.

This is not a diary manga. The cats talk, but sometimes the joke can be told without words. This might be a bit jarring if you didn’t expect the cats to talk. The jokes vary between visual or cultural gags, or they hinge on your knowledge of animal behavior to understand the joke. Without this prior context, the jokes might not make much sense. One gag involves a cat being surprised by a cucumber. This is a reference to a 2017 Internet trend, but it can read as nonsensical to those unfamiliar with it.

I previously mentioned the sound effects being good, but I found that a lot of the lettering fits strangely into the speech bubbles. It’s either too close to the edge because the text is too big, too close to inverted tails, or just unbalanced. I understand that there are probably limitations because the text in English will always be longer than the original Japanese, but the longer I looked at the jokes, the more I realized that a lot of the text just looked awkwardly placed in the bubbles.

The Verdict

Wonder Cats is a full-color collection of works by Sasami Nitori, and it makes for an easy read with its cute ideas. General animal and manga lovers might be happy with this book, but it’s not entirely cohesive and not entirely about cats, so people who are only looking for cat manga might be put off by the mix. It’s appropriate for kids and adults alike with its simple pictures and text. If you just want a quick read with snappy jokes, this might be the manga to pick.

If you like Wonder Cats, you might also like…

• With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun by Hidekichi Matsumoto

Credits

Story and Art: Sasami Nitori
Translation: Alethea & Athena Nibley
Lettering: Roland Amago
Cover Design: H. Qi
Proofreader: Danielle King
Production Designer: Stevie Wilson
Senior Editor: Shanti Whitesides
Published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment

Thank you to Seven Seas Entertainment for providing a review copy. Receiving this copy did not affect the reviewer’s opinions as expressed here.

Article edited by: Stephanie Liu